Gay people can’t be judges as they can’t be ‘fair and objective’ says pastor
A high-profile pastor has urged his followers to object to one of President Trump’s judicial nominees.
Trump has nominated Patrick J. Bumatay to replace Judge Carlos Bea on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Bumatay currently serves as a US attorney in Southern California.
If he is successful, Bumatay will become the first Filipino American to serve as an Article III federal appellate judge and the first openly gay judge on the Ninth Circuit.
However, as with any Trump nominee, Bumatay has detractors – this time on both the left and right of the political spectrum.
Related: Pastor refuses dying man a funeral because his son is gay
Senator Kamala Harris, on hearing of his nomination, called Bumatay “highly-flawed” and said he “lacks the judgment and qualifications to serve on the Ninth Circuit.”
Her views on Bumatay have been echoed by fellow Californian Senator Dianne Feinstein, who says Bumatay, “has only ever argued two cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals …. Most of his work has been in district courts, not federal appeals courts.”
Patrick Bumatay has only ever argued two cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the same court on which he would serve for life if confirmed. Most of his work has been in district courts, not federal appeals courts. pic.twitter.com/eRMEPjyY5F
— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) October 31, 2019
Earlier this week, Pastor E.W. Jackson, who unsuccessfully ran for the US Senate in 2018, used his radio show, The Awakening, to encourage followers to complain about Bumatay’s nomination. His reason – surprise, surprise – is because Bumatay’s gay.
“How this nomination got by President Trump, I do not know,” Jackson said. “This guy is a complete and a total activist who has an agenda to further the cause of normalizing and legalizing, in the civil sense, homosexuality in our country. We don’t need that kind of person as an appeals court judge.
“This guy is bad, bad news. He is a homosexual activist … and he brings this into his legal practice. Folks, we don’t need judges who have an ideological agenda to use the bench to transform the culture into something they think it should be, contrary to everything we’ve ever stood for.
“His nomination needs to be quashed, and it is my hope that it will either be withdrawn or it will be defeated by a vote in the United States Senate.”
Bumatay’s appointment, if confirmed, would be for life. It would also make him eligible for a potential seat on the Supreme Court one day – something that horrifies Jackson.
“There is a tremendous opportunity there for judicial tyranny when people take that job because they’ve got some agenda other than the implementation of the law and the Constitution in a fair and objective way.
“I’m convinced that these folks, because that’s their agenda, they can’t be fair and objective because they’ve got an agenda that is preeminent in their lives, and in their minds, and in their hearts, and in their behavior, and in their activity.”
It’s the second time Trump has nominated Bumatay, after first doing so in late 2018. On that occasion, the Senate failed to act on it and sent it back to the White House. His current nomination is now pending before the Senate.
Related: Trump nominates openly gay federal judge, Democrats call foul
Jackson – who was banned from Twitter earlier this year – has long been a critic of the advancement of LGBTQ rights. After criticizing Bumatay on his radio show on Monday, he spent a portion of Tuesday’s show attacking Democratic Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg over his “claims” to be Christian.
H/T: Right Wing Watch
